Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Noah Anthony - Church Visit #1


Buckhead Church
3336 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30326
9/13/15
Megachurch


Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

            The service I attended was very simple and modern. The church itself was very wealthy and well put together. It was massive! It was about 4 stories tall and even had different themed levels for youth and adult ministries. Their sanctuary had a very large auditorium feel. It was dark with lots of modern lights behind the stage. Their music and worship was fantastic. When they did their worship I felt like I was at a concert which can be a good and a bad thing. There were a few things different about this church that I attended. The church was located in the middle of downtown Atlanta whereas my church is located in the suburbs. The size of the church and the sanctuary was much larger than the church I go to. It was a bit more of a modern style, which I liked. The service was very relatable and useful to everyone there.

What did you find the most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

            The one thing that was very interesting to me was that the pastor wasn’t actually there on stage for the service. What they did was they had a very large screen that had him on video preaching from another campus. It was very weird because at first it seemed like he was actually there but then we realized that it was just a large screen and that he was at another campus. This is different from my church, which has two campuses. My church has different pastors and messages at both campuses. I later found out that Buckhead Church is one of six churches that is a part of North Point Ministries, Inc. I had never seen a ministry that was incorporated before. I also found that 30,000 people attend North Point Churches each week and that their sermons are accessed over one million times each month via their North Point websites. I thought it was very cool that they are able to reach that many people to share the good news.

What did you find the most disoriented or challenging about the worship service?

            I personally liked the service a lot but at the same time the church was almost too much. The building was so big it felt like a mini skyscraper and did not really have a church feel to it. I thought that the themed floors were cool but at the same time it’s like do you really need all that? The sanctuary was a very large auditorium and felt like a small stadium. It also was a bit too dark in there. There were some things that I liked about it though. It was casual, modern, and the message was relatable. The modern feel of the church I think is what makes it so appealing to a lot of people. It makes them feel more comfortable. I understand that but at the same time, it did not feel like I was at a church. Maybe, this is how more churches will be in the future and I did appreciate their willingness to make people feel comfortable at church.


What aspects of Scripture of theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

            This service to be honest did not contain a lot of scripture. This is part of how I said earlier that the service was simple. The pastor focused on John 10:10-11 and Romans 6:16. The series that they were in was called “What Makes You Happy.” He talked about the difference between happiness and pleasure and how we in our lives struggle with pleasure. This topic is very relatable as we deal with these types of problems all the time. I liked how the message was relatable, but at the same time there wasn't a lot of scripture provided. The message was good but I felt that it did not dive deep enough into God’s word. I am used to seeing more scripture in sermons when I go to church. Using more scripture helps us learn more about God and how we should live as Christians. I personally thought that the service could have used a bit more of that. But this goes to show that you can have a good sermon without a ton of scripture.

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